Proposals to change the way public health grants are distributed to local authorities have been put on the back-burner easing fears Blackpool could lose out on vital funding.

The town, which has some of the worst health statistics in the country, had faced having its annual grant cut from £18m to £13m under plans to change the formula for handing out the money from government.

Blackpool Councils chief executive Neil Jack

But Blackpool Council’s chief executive Neil Jack told a meeting of the audit committee proposed changes had been scrapped for now.

He said: “We have had a lot of different stories abut the future of public health grants and funding.

“We have had recent assurance from Public Health England that isn’t going to happen any time soon.

“We have one of the highest per capita public health grants in the country due to the legacy issues here.”